Category: Cycle Across America

Experience Ryan Anderson’s adventure cycling across America on the TransAmerica Trail. This bike touring blog details the journey, highlights stunning landscapes, and shares personal stories from the ride. Perfect for those interested in cross-country cycling and exploring the heart of the USA.

Training Rides With Spring Tides

Posted on by Ryan

Over the past couple of months I’ve been getting myself saddle fit by cycling  a 25 mile coastal loop in Newcastle several times a week after work, along with a couple of longer rides including a 45 mile ride from Newcastle back to my home in Eaglescliffe. All of these have been done with a loaded bike to accustom myself to the weight I will be lugging around on the trip.

One particular outing I was accompanied by my good friend Doug on a sunny Saturday morning. Following my usual route we got going around 10am negotiating our way out of Heaton, heading east towards the coast.

Doug came prepared.

The first 5 miles passed through Walkerville and then Wallsend on fairly quiet roads before eventually switching onto a bike path that runs alongside a stream. Doug was worried before set off that he would not keep pace on his bike, but we kept a gentle pace switching lead and riding parallel for a chat when possible.

It was t-shirt weather and although I had given my arms a coating in sun lotion Doug hadn’t in the hope of a few tan lines by the end of the ride. The next few miles we rolled through the outskirts of town coasting under some bridges and seeing some gruesome rode kill. Mr Hedgehog wasn’t going to be making it to the coast with us, but we could now begin to smell the salty sea air and hear squawking seagulls as we approached the marina.

After reaching the marina the route then followed along the coastline towards Tynemouth. The roads were lined with chip shops and fishmongers, the stench was overpowering at times but probably heaven to a seafood lover. The last few miles hugged a small beach with the pathway beginning to get crowded with families out for a stroll, a few unleashed dogs almost stuck their nose in between my spokes.

One last big climb towards the old priory and castle ruins and we had reached the coast. The North Sea provided a relentless blast of ice cold air which forced Doug to pull out his hoodie.

We continued up the shore until we reached Whitley Bay for a cone of chips and a break before turning back and heading home again. Its was nice to have company on the route which I have became incredibly bored with now. I would be lying if I said I had been training ‘hard’ for the trip, just sensibly. I know I’am capable of the daily mileage and I don’t want to burn out before I go. Its not a time trial or competition, I will be essentially a tourist on two wheels going at my own speed.

Why Would I Want To Cycle Across America?

Posted on by Ryan

“Your doing what!?” – that’s the usual response I get when telling people I’m spending this summer cycling across America. Most of my friends are now well acquainted with the idea, possibly even bored sick with my constant talk of the trip.

The trip itself is a culmination of a 3 year dream that first presented itself in 2007. At the time I was researching for another trip across America by car, when I found a journal documenting a guy who had cycled across. In the following weeks I became fascinated by the idea of doing something so big and different, but to this day don’t have a straight response for ‘why’.

A couple years and summers later I had finished my degree and got a job and felt the chance of taking the trip slipping away. It was then I decided there was never going to be a convenient time to take several months out of my life. After both my Grandmas passing away in the space of a year I really began to take stock of my ambitions. I couldn’t wait any longer, the trip still consumed my thoughts, it had to be done.

So skip to present, I’m ready to leave everything behind and on the 17th May 2010 I will be flying to Yorktown, VA and begin cycling to the pacific ocean. I will be following the Transamerica trail established by the ACA back in 1976.

Having spent several months travelling around the USA in previous years, this route still manages to go through all the states I haven’t visited except Illinois. Riding with a fully loaded bike, I plan on camping around 2/3’s and staying in motels the rest. Despite going alone I also hope to meet and ride with others along the way.

I read elsewhere another TransAm cyclist saying that people who ask why your going on such a trip probably wouldn’t understand if you told them. I guess I want to test myself away from the security of normal life, to live a life without walls and limits and finally live out my dream.